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Reynolds: "I was overthinking a little too much"

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles first baseman Mark Reynolds played a guessing game tonight with Rays catcher Jose Lobaton and didn't get the desired results.

Reynolds struck out three times and stranded six runners as part of an 0-for-4 night on his 29th birthday that lowered his average to .207.

"I know we've got to get better. I've got to get better in those situations," said Reynolds, referring to the Orioles going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

"I think tonight I was overthinking a little too much, trying to go along with Lobaton back there, trying to figure out what they were trying to do against me. They kept it switched up tonight on me. I didn't really get pitches I was looking for in the count I was hoping to get. Tip your hat to them. They kept me off balance."

Is it difficult not to press in these situations when the failures keep mounting?

"No," Reynolds said. "We've just got to take advantage of our opportunities. Nobody is pressing. Nobody is, 'I've got to get a hit, I've got to get a hit'. You know, you just let it come to you. We've got to take advantage of our opportunities and have productive outs and we didn't do that tonight."

Is it starting to snowball?

"Not snowballing. No," Reynolds said. "If anything, we get some confidence going off a tough pitcher. After the first inning, we knew we could string some hits together and hopefully deliver a big blow, and obviously the result is a 2-0 loss and guys are just battling. And tomorrow is another day."

Reynolds felt bad for Tommy Hunter, who took the loss despite allowing only two runs.

"A guy goes out and throws like that, gives up two runs, he keeps you in the game. And we've got to do a better job of getting him some runs and let him go out there and throw," Reynolds said. "He probably felt like he had to make no mistakes tonight. But it's just one of those nights and we'll come back tomorrow and go at it.

"We have two games left here, two big ones. We know that and we'll play our tails off trying to get these next two."